Welsh Examinations Database

The Welsh Government is seeking a contractor to collect, validate, match and provide an annual data set of all approved qualifications in public examinations (e.g. GCSEs and A levels) achieved by students at examination centres in Wales (e.g. schools, FE colleges). The contractor will be expected to demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of the public examinations system in Wales , have experience of securely processing and matching large volumes of personal data and be able to communicate with schools verbally and in writing in both English and Welsh. The successful supplier will be awarded an initial 3 year contract with the possibility of a 2 year extension with the total contract valued at approximately GBP 625,000 exc. VAT. The main services that the contractor will be expected to provide are:

(a) Work with at least 20 awarding organisations (but the number may vary annually) e.g. WJEC, Pearson, AQA to:

i. Agree an annual timetable of data transfers

ii. Agree a data format, and as far as possible working within existing data sharing formats used by awarding bodies

iii. Provide a secure data transfer system (see (e) below) for the transfer of data from awarding organisations to the contractor or agree an alternative secure data transfer method. (b) match individual level data across different awarding organisations, different establishments and across time (in the cases where some examinations have been taken earlier than normal) to produce a complete and historical record for each student’s qualifications. (c) provide the Client with this matched data set in a pre-defined format and according to an agreed timetable. (d) provide a bilingual (Welsh and English) telephone and e-mail help desk function. The help desk will field enquiries from schools and colleges. (e) Provide a secure on-line data transfer and help desk system with individual accounts for all schools, colleges and awarding organisations (300-400 users). This system will allow awarding organisations to provide data to the contractor and for schools to raise queries and upload documents or evidence where they do not agree with the data provided to them during the data checking periods. (f) Unless exempt, the contractor must be registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office for the processing of personal data. (g) The contractor must possess a current Cyber Essentials, Cyber Essentials Plus or ISO27001 accreditation for the full duration of the contract.